


A Prince and his Samurai in Green Haramaki

by AngstyAlb



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Bodyguard AU (kind of), But it ends sweetly!, M/M, One Shot, Some angst, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22738864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstyAlb/pseuds/AngstyAlb
Summary: What if Vinsmoke Judge did not entirely give up on his third son being a powerful warrior of Germa?  During a siege he encountered a young swordsman with green hair that embodied the ideals he wished to instill in his son.  He wished him to become the companion of Sanji to teach him to be a warrior.  Perhaps it would be a nightmare for the young prince, or maybe it would be the greatest and only gift to receive from his father.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 171





	A Prince and his Samurai in Green Haramaki

**Author's Note:**

> A one-shot written as a Valentine's gift for gemmaroses on tumblr!
> 
> This is my first time writing Zosan or anything One Piece at all! Hopefully I did all the characters justice. Enjoy!

“From today going forward, he is going to be your companion. I can only hope this child with a burning warrior’s pride will show _you_ how to embrace your own as a son of the Vinsmoke name,” snarled a frustrated Judge.   
  
Standing at the bedroom door of his third son, Sanji, Judge clutched a green haired boy by the scruff of his neck before tossing him to the floor. The boy was bruised and battered, but none of his expressions betrayed the physical pain of his body. His grimace was one of anger at the man who attacked his home and plucked him from the only life he knew.

Young Sanji looked stunned, clutching a book about devil fruits he had hidden away in his room for studying. Something his father thoroughly despised. Cautiously he extended a hand to the fallen boy, but instantly his hand was swatted away and the scowl was turned to his direction.  
  
It turned the blood in his veins to ice and a shudder ran up his spine.

* * *

In the days to follow, Sanji did everything he could to try and get to know this new companion but it was to very little avail. Everything he tried ended up being met with “stupid curly brows” or “crybaby blondie”. Frustrating as that was, he still preferred it over the physical assault by his brothers or the tests pushed on him by his father.  
  
Eventually he got fed up with it and confronted him.   
  
“I know you hate that you’re here, but I’m trying to be nice to you! The least you could do is call me by my name. I don’t even know yours because you won’t tell me,” Sanji huffed after stopping in the hallway outside of his bedroom with the boy walking alongside him.   
  
He didn’t respond.   
  
“You know, I didn’t ask my dad to do what he did. That’s something he came up with. It’s not like I want other people to have to be stuck in this castle...like me,” he murmured under his breath while clenching his fists.   
  
Anger wasn’t an emotion Sanji ever really felt. He felt sadness at the lack of attention from his father, he felt fear when his brothers decided to corner him and beat him because they felt like it. At least with his family, he understood how things were and that he just had to deal with it. This kid though was his chance to have someone that was _not_ a Vinsmoke to talk to and relate to. It made him angry that he wouldn’t just hit Sanji if he hated him so much. That’s what people do when they hate you, not stare in silence with the occasional insult.

“I’m not angry at the old guy,” the other boy finally spoke to break his silence.

“What?” Sanji gawked, feeling moisture forming in the corners of his eyes

“I was, but I was the weak one for being beaten by those soldiers. They were going to kill everyone at my dojo, but right when I thought I would be killed the old guy asked if in exchange for the people at my dojo I would become a subject of his kingdom. I agreed. So I’m here by choice,” the boy explained matter-of-factly.  
  
Sanji couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This kid fought off Germa soldiers long enough for his dad to take notice of him? Just who was he?   
  
“Well, then why are you always calling me names and ignoring me if you’re just here by your own choice?” Sanji asked, now filled with even more confused anger.

“Because I’m stuck with a big crybaby who lets his family treat him like crap and does nothing about it,” the boy retorted crossing his arms over his chest.

“My family is all super strong, except me. I can’t fight back even if I wanted to,” Sanji whimpered.

“More like won’t. You’d rather cry than stand up for yourself,” the boy harshly replied getting in Sanji’s face and poking him in the chest to emphasize each word.

Never in his young life had he imagined he could feel this way, nor would anyone in all of German Kingdom believe it themselves. Sanji was **mad**. So mad that he pushed the other boy away from him, taking him by surprise. They both fell to the floor rolling around, arms flailing trying to hit each other. The other boy managed to block most of them but Sanji got a few slugs in here and there.

It was several minutes before Sanji gave out and laid out on the floor gasping for breath. The other boy still had energy to fight, but was content to do the same.

“Finally. I never thought I was going to get a reaction out of you,” the other boy finally spoke.  
  
“Huh,” was the only word he was able to gasp out between breaths.   
  
“You do have a fighting spirit inside of you. It’s just buried under that gentle nature,” the boy then sprang up to look over at Sanji. “If I’m going to have to be stuck with you forever, it’s going to be under my terms. I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself, then I’ll teach you how to fight back. Deal?”

Sanji stayed in his current position until he finally caught his breath. Eventually he held out his hand to shake on this new contract between them. Instead of grabbing it like a handshake, the other boy grasped his hand so their fingers were wrapped around the opposing palm and their thumbs intertwined.

“Oh, and my name is Zoro by the way. Roronoa Zoro.”

* * *

Teaching Sanji to stick up for himself was probably one of the most difficult things Zoro had done in his life. For several months straight he would randomly tackle Sanji to the grown to help him practice being alert, but more often than not ended with a lot of tears and the snickering of three technicolored brothers down the hallway.

He would purposely try to piss him off again like before, but now that Sanji knew Zoro’s intentions he would just ignore him and continue practicing recipes in the servant’s kitchen. Zoro would then end up hitting him, repeating the cycle of tears and telling him to be tougher.

It wasn’t until one particular day when Sanji’s brothers decided to do more than insult Zoro that things started to change. Yonji, who was especially angered by Zoro’s presence for trying to “out green”, planned with the other two brothers to attack him to prove they were stronger than this boy their dad decided to bring in to live in the castle.

Zoro of course held his own surprisingly well, but he underestimated the super human strength they possessed. Three against one he was overwhelmed until he was just a bloody and bruised lump on the floor.

Then suddenly out of nowhere Sanji runs in arms wailing and attempts to defend Zoro. Of course, he was no match for them either and was quickly dealt with in turn. He was okay with this outcome, they had stopped hurting Zoro and that was his goal.

The three brothers left once satisfied with Sanji and Zoro terribly beaten sitting against the wall. Zoro looked over at Sanji with a bit of a perplexed look on his face, puzzling over something on his mind.

“Why did you do that? I’ve never seen you go after your brothers like that when they’re wailing on you. You could have actually _avoided_ getting hurt this time,” Zoro questioned. He was difficult to understand due to the swelling of his lips, but his eyes conveyed exactly what he wanted to know.

“That’s a stupid question,” Sanji whispered while wincing in pain.  
  
“What?”

“This time they were hurting a friend, so I had to try to help you. What was I supposed to do?” Sanji retorted.

“You’re supposed to care about yourself more, stupid curly brows. Besides, it’s _my_ job to protect you as part of my agreement with the old man. I don’t need you looking after me,” Zoro attempted to snarl but ended up wincing from the pain instead deflating the intention behind his words.

Looking closer at Sanji he then realized that he had passed out from the pain. Zoro rolled his eyes then moved to stand up as best he could. It took a great deal of effort but he managed to bend over and pick up Sanji to carry him back to their shared room. 

The lightness of his body caused Zoro’s stomach to sink, the entirety of his upper body that he could feel was boney. As these thoughts ran through his mind Zoro could feel Sanji’s arms wrap tighter around him and his face burrow into his shoulder.

Zoro blushed. And then he cursed.

* * *

From that day forward, the bond between the two boys could only deepen. As they reached their teenage years, and despite Sanji constantly failing the tests put on him by his father, due to Zoro’s training and coaching the two of them were brought on as soldiers of Germa proper. They did not fight alongside the royal family but among the regular foot soldiers, which honestly suited them more than the alternative.

The dynamic duo of the samurai with his three sword style and the mix of kicking and knife play that Sanji wielded they were a force to reckon with. Fighting for Germa was something they did begrudgingly, but their chemistry as a fighting duo was undeniable. People who saw them otherwise might be inclined to disagree.

“Hey! How many times have I told you to follow _me_ when we’re going somewhere. I’m sick and tired of having to find your sorry ass when you get lost, mosshead,” Sanji gritted through clenched teeth as he grasped him by the sleeve of his arm yanking him in the opposite direction he was going.

“Well who asked you to come look for me? I sure didn’t, pervy brows,” Zoro grumbled as he leaned to the side just nimbly dodging a foot that was flying towards his head.

Onlookers watching the exchange as Sanji dragged Zoro back to the Germa ship muttered in response. On the surface they appeared to hate one another greatly. They assumed it was entirely a royalty and retainer relationship, that they stayed together out of obligation.

This behavior was almost entirely exclusive to when they were around other people. In the privacy of their shared room of course they would still engage in a war of who could use the most insulting nickname, but it was also a lot more than that.

Sanji felt a lot of anxiety when Zoro was not at his side since he got used to his company all those years ago. A lot of the anger came from the fear that Zoro had been pulled away from him for forever if he couldn’t find him, and Zoro’s anger just came from his indignant personality when being yelled at. Or when Sanji went weak in the knees over girls, Zoro hated that a lot but would never admit his jealousy.

When alone, in their sanctuary away from the problems of being Germa soldiers and the general unhappiness of their home, there was peace between them. There was almost constant physical contact between them, whether leaning against each other’s shoulders or hands resting on each other. This was their comfort in this hell they called home.

It was in this safe place they would talk about their dreams like fantasizing about leaving this place forever. Sanji was almost positive his father wouldn’t even try to reclaim him if they left, but Zoro was conflicted due to his sworn loyalty as a child. They agreed though right before Sanji turned 17 they would try to leave, as that would be when talks of marriage would begin for him. Then his chances at freedom would be completely removed.

Two nights before his 17th birthday, Sanji and Zoro spent their last night of sleep in that castle both on the same bed. Sanji clasped at Zoro’s hand, feeling the need for reassurance of his presence stronger than ever before. Zoro did not move his hand the entire night, his forehead pressed against Sanji’s.

* * *

Sanji laid out on the floor of the catboat they had stolen in the dusky hours that intermingled between night and day. His heart was a painful mix of excited adrenaline and hollow anguish. He despised feeling the slightest twinge of upset at how easily he was able to get away from his home.  
  
The night guards of the castle were too slow to react, only expecting things trying to break in and not things trying to break out, but in the end they still sounded the alarm that something suspicious was happening in the middle of the night.   
  
As they ran to the docks overflowing with warships and large sailing vessels, moored on the beach was a small sailing ship probably used by servants for leisure. After quickly pushing it off, the energy of the escape allowing them to easily overexert their bodies, they were soon off and sailing into the unknown seas. Sanji didn’t even know which sea they happened to be sailing in.

As he turned back to catch the last sight of his home, at the edge of the docks he caught the slightest glimpse of his father. Judge had run out with a spear in hand, itching to slay whoever had disturbed his slumber. When he reached the docks and caught the eyes of his worthless son, he promptly turned around and returned home as well as calling off the soldiers’ pursuit.

It had been a couple of hours since then and his placement on the floor had not changed. Zoro busied himself tending to the ship while trying to find a potential place to land and get their bearings.Finally, Sanji broke the silence.

“You know, I knew he never really cared about me as his son,” Sanji stated with no emotion in his voice.  
  
Zoro was silent.

“I always fantasized that the day I left forever would be the day I forced him to acknowledge he loved me. It’s honestly the reason I didn’t do it any sooner, because then I would have to confront the reality. I once thought the day my father had brought me someone to be my friend was his way of showing love, but that was just a half-hearted attempt to make me into a warrior,” his voice becoming more tense with every syllable.

“Then I became that warrior and I fought for him in the name of Germa. I thought then he might acknowledge me, but he never did. I’m nothing more than a subject to him that just happened to be related by blood.”  
  
After that the boat returned to silence. The wash of the waves and the cry of the gulls.   
  
Suddenly Sanji’s fist slammed into the wooden floor, followed by a sharp curse.

“Fuck! I hate this. I hate him. I hate Germa. I hate myself,” his right hand reaching up to hold his head with fingers weaved into his hair. Angry tears were pooling at the corners of his eyes.  
  
Sanji’s hand was about to collide with the floor again before being caught by Zoro. At first he fought him, but the swordsman’s grip was too strong. Acknowledging that pissed him off too.

“You’re more than welcome to be upset, but stop hurting yourself and our boat. It won’t accomplish anything except making us swim to find an island,” Zoro spoke in a parental tone. He made fierce eye contact with Sanji before accepting the other would listen and let go.

Sanji then abruptly raised his back off the floor to sit up straight. He shifted over until he was leaning against the side of the boat, his arm pressed against Zoro’s leg. Zoro could feel dampness forming on his pant leg, but he paid it no mind. As they sailed off into the rising sun, Zoro idly ran his fingers through Sanji’s hair feeling him croon into the contact as he quietly cried.

* * *

Eventually the tense emotions mellowed and turned into feelings of worry. Sanji had prepared a gargantuan amount of food for the two of them, so much so that Zoro even told him to leave some of it behind as it might sink the ship. He had also handed over sailing to Sanji after he yelled at him for being the reason they hadn’t found an island in the entire day they had been sailing.

While not paying attention to what Zoro was doing, the swordsman had tapped him on his shoulder to show Sanji something. In his hands he held a wooden carving of a bird with its wings spread.

“Happy birthday, blondie,” Zoro quickly stated with his head half turned away while blushing bright red.

Sanji took the wooden bird from him and held it in his hands gently as if it were the most precious thing in this world to be in his possession. He smiled, then setting the bird in his lap before lunging forward to wrap his hands around the other man’s neck.  
  
“Thank you, stupid Zoro,” he whispered into the crook of his neck.

Night had come and Sanji slept while Zoro stayed up to watch, not permitted to change direction unless he _absolutely_ saw a ship.

The blond cook stirred in his sleep, unable to rest well due to the rocking of the ship. Eventually he just gave up, he needed to talk about something on his mind anyway.

“You know, in all the years that I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call me my name,” Sanji mused as he looked up at the ever watchful Zoro.

“What? It’s been ten years and you’re only just now asking about that?” Zoro laughed, amused that even with something like that Sanji pays no mind to how others treat him.  
  
“Don’t laugh, I want to know why,” he orders in a fierce tone and his eyes cutting up sharply to gaze at Zoro.

Zoro sat in silence for a good solid thirty seconds before even beginning to reply. Sanji could tell he was struggling with just saying whatever it was.  
  
“That name is something the old man gave you. I hate that. I would much rather call you something I came up with,” he finally responded.

Sanji laughed. He laughed the hardest he had laughed in several years. Tears spilled from his eyes and his arms clutched his stomach. Zoro looked down at him with a snarl on his face.  
  
“Quit laughing! It’s not funny! That’s why I never told you because I knew you would think that was stupid,” Zoro growled as he looked away from Sanji.

Sanji stood up from his resting position until his head was above Zoro’s. Both of his hands rested on each side of the swordsman’s face as he forced him to look up at him, Sanji’s own face horrifyingly close but painfully far away at the same time.

“I had wondered for the whole time we’ve known each other, but of course that’s your answer. Only someone as stubborn and stupid as you would think something like that,” Sanji whispered as his mouth began to close the distance between them.  
  
“W-wait, what’re you d-oomph!” Zoro’s protests were warmly silenced by the lips of the boy he was sworn to protect for already half of his life. His body was rigid at first, but as Sanji’s hands slid around to grasp his fingers in his hair, Zoro’s own hands mirrored the action and the emotional walls he kept built up around him were torn down in an instant by a curly-browed prince.

Suddenly, the warmth was taken away and Zoro was left extending his neck forward into the empty air.  
  
“H-hey! Why did you stop?” Zoro shouted, his hair a mess and face covered in patches of red with lips wet and swollen.

“Look! It’s an island! Or, so I thought. I think it’s a ship actually. A weird ship with a fish head on the front of it. And food! I smell the most delicious food I’ve ever smelled in my life,” Sanji rambled off with pure excitement and delight in his eyes.

Zoro couldn’t help but give his own smile at seeing Sanji genuinely excited about something without the fear of his father looming over his head. The swordsman stood up and headed to the bow where the other man stood, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Well let’s stop there and see if we can get something to eat. And who knows, maybe that ship will take on a couple of extra crew-mates. I’m with you wherever you want to go, blondie.”  
  
Sanji just chuckled to himself. “I love you too, moss head.”


End file.
